3:56 [p.j.m.]

032

friday may eighteenth
8:00 am

park ji min
What I meant by saying I'd wake her up at 8:00am was that I'd stop by her dorm and walk her to her first class. Though she didn't know it, I was completely and entirely infatuated with her. I'd been kind of admiring Yeong Ja from a distance for a long time; it had probably been since we began university. When I walked into my first class on my first day of my sophomore year, her freshman year, she immediately caught my eye. Sure, there had been other pretty girls, but something about her radiance then had made her stand out.

Constantly happy, always laughing, a huge and bubbly personality, Yeong Ja drew everyone to her. When she suddenly became sad and dreary, most everyone just flitted away, not caring about what she could have been experiencing. Me? I watched her slowly wilt without the courage to speak to her. I wanted more than anything to console her, but how? A professor, one who really cared for her students' wellbeing, also noticed her absence from the class. I asked her for Yeong Ja's phone number from the school records and told her my plan to bring brightness back into her life. She seemed ecstatic and complied.

That led up to me knocking on her dorm room's door. When there was no response, I knocked again and pressed my ear to the door. Though quiet, the sobs coming from the room didn't go unnoticed. "Yeong Ja-yah? Can you please let me in? It's Park Ji Min," I whispered, feeling my heart break.

There was a whimper, then the rattle of the door being unlocked. I hesitated for a moment before slowly opening the door. Yeong Ja had already moved to where I assumed she had been previously: cuddled up in her bed. Faint sniffles were heard, along with what sounded like almost gasping for breath. With a few long strides, I was next to her bed. Her back was facing the entrance, and I could see shaking from every breath she took. I sat on the edge of her bed and rested a hand on her shoulder gently. "I'm here, love. Do you need anything? Hot tea? A Disney movie? A hug?" I asked, rubbing small circles into her shoulder with my thumb.

There was no response other than her turning around and sitting up. Even with puffy red eyes, tear stained cheeks, and messy hair, she looked beautiful as usual. Without a word, Yeong Ja threw her arms around my torso and hugged me tightly. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she repeated in a hoarse whisper, over and over again.

"There's no need to apologize. I know it hurts, but I'm here. I'm here for you, and I'll stay as long as you need."

•unedited